Historically, corporatism or corporativism (Italian corporativismo) is a political system in which legislative representation is given to industries. Under Fascism in Italy, employers were organized into syndicates known as "corporations" according to their industries, and these groups were given representation in a legislative body known as the Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni.

This use of the term "corporation" is not exactly equivalent to the restricted modern sense of the word. Compare corporate state and militarism.

Some elements of corporatism can be found still existing today, for example in the ILO Conference or in the Economic and Social Committee of the European Union.

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Today, the word corporatism is most often used to refer to tendencies in politics for legislators and administrations to be influenced or dominated by the interests of corporations rather than citizens. In this view, government decisions are seen as being influenced strongly by which sorts of policies will lead to greater profits for favored companies. In this sense of the word, corporatism is also termed corporatocracy. If there is substantial military-corporate collaboration it is often called militarism.